| Drinking with a Prince |
| Location: | Corwin's Office in the Royal Palace of Amber |
| Date: | October 5th 14 (OOC Year 2017) |
| Summary: | Veronica approaches Prince Corwin for help in her blood quest. They share drinks and he converses with Martin via Trump to arrange a meeting with a Noble in Exile from Tir. |
| Characters: | Corwin and Veronica |
| NPCs: | brief appearance of palace servants |
With evening having descended upon the realm, the Palace has grown quiet, but that hasn't stopped Corwin from setting up shop in the office that he still managed to retain from when he was Chancellor. But, with little work that actually needs his attention, it's more of a place to lounge, as evident by the fact that he's settled in the large chair behind the desk, leaned back with his feet upon the polished wood. There's a bottle of whiskey in one hand and judging by the fact that it's almost gone, he's been partaking in it for a little bit.
Having decided that she needs to speak to a member of Faiella's bloodline and finding her great-grandmother unavailable at the moment, Veronica finds a palace servant and asks to be taken to one of the Princes Corwin or Eric. Having shown the servant the token of Flora's favor that she wears on her left hand the Mon is quickly escorted to Corwin's office. She strides in as if it is her right - - which the ring almost makes an undeniable truth - - and curtsies politely to the Prince before saying, "Thank you, that is all," to the servant and, "Good evening, Prince Corwin." As this is their first time meeting she adds, "I am Lady Veronica Nayelenor of House Chantris and Montevalno, great-granddaughter of your sister, her Highness, Princess Deirdre," and asks, "May I take up some of your time?"
Veronica declared that she owns a token (BNY) named Floral Signet. This token was written by Flora on December 28th, 2009, using the "Amber Palace household and servants" resource (ID 41) with potency 1.
Token Description: This silver band is a delicate thing, with a setting of carved silver in the form of a floral arrangement. Small leaves shimmer with a fine layer of emerald chips surround delicate flowers likewise adorned with amethysts. The ring itself is recognizable as a sign of particular favor with Princess Florimel and should be recognized as such by anyone familiar with Amber.
Being assigned to the Palace, this signet also gives the bearer some measure of authority over Amber Palace staff to facilitate in social arrangements. The ring can also be traded in for an amount of money equal to a level one resource to aid the bearer when necessary. This can only be done once, of course, and the new holder of the ring can get their money back directly from the Princess.
Apparently people striding into his office as if it's their right is something that Corwin encounters on a fairly regular basis, for there's barely a glance to the door as Veronica is shown in. But, once he's addressed, his gaze does shift towards her, settling there and offering a simple little nod of greeting before following it up with, "A distant spawnling of my sister? Well met, then, Lady Veronica." The hand not holding the bottle lifts to motion towards a seat, "Please, take a seat."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Veronica replies as she takes the offered seat. Answering the question, she says, "Yes, descended from her son Mordred," putting a healthy amount of distaste into the pronunciation of the Black Knight's name.
The mention of Mordred's name draws a slight little curl of Corwin's lips, but he manages to withhold the sneer as he offers, "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while and I hope not to hear for a while longer." A pause and then, "But, what it is it that I can do for you?"
A subtle nod acknowledges the hint of the withheld sneer and she willingly dismisses that subject of conversation. She glances at the bottle for a moment and then looks up at her great-granduncle's face and answers his question simply enough by saying, "I am looking for someone and believe that Princess Deirdre, yourself or your brother - - Prince Eric - - might be able to assist me in this."
As her gaze shifts to the bottle and then looks back to him, Corwin's simply tugging his feet from the desk so that he can open up one of the drawers, only to reach into it. When his hand pulls back, there's a second bottle that comes to be revealed and it's set on the desk and pushed towards her, "Sorry, no glasses in here." That said, he's simply giving a cluck of his tongue, "Interesting. Limited choice of individuals to help. How is it that you think we can help?"
"In order to answer that I should explain an endeavor I have set out to complete," Veronica says as she takes the bottle, nodding at the apology to show there is no need for glasses. "My ancestry is… fairly complex as you likely can imagine. I do not know if I have that special quality that your father passed down to his children or not. I have on good authority that the most certain test would have fairly unpleasant results if I did not." She smiles at that point and takes a moment to open the bottle and take a drink from it before continuing. "I have secured the assistance of an alchemist who thinks she can help me, but I must find individuals who have nothing but one of the possible blood lines that I may have. Your father's is… I believe… completely impossible but could there not be relatives of your mother who would fit the bill?"
As Corwin listens to that, there's a slight little cant of his head to the side and it's followed by a faint 'Hmm', "Interesting. So you need someone who has only the blood of my mother running through their veins." A single fingertip comes to tap upon the side of the bottle, "That's .. not something I've ever given any thought too. I'd have to actually think about who may such a thing and, unfortunately, I've been out of touch with those from Tir."
Veronica nods and sips more of the whisky from the bottle. She then asks, "There are people from Tir in Amber?"
"Not so much in Amber, but they have an association with Amber," offers Corwin, only to follow that up with a lift of the bottle to his lips for a healthy swallow before lowering it back down, "There is one individual who may be able to answer if there's someone with pure blood of my mother in them and that is Princess Miriam of Tir, now the wife of my nephew, Martin of Rebma."
"Good to know. I had always been under the impression that the people of Tir were ghosts who don't interact with people from Amber," Veronica says and then asks, "Can you arrange for an introduction to the princess? Even if just a letter of introduction for me to present her upon meeting her?"
"Common misconception .. but if that were in the case, would have been awfully hard for my mother to get it on with Oberon." A quirk of his lips and then Corwin is giving a nod of his head, "I can. Not sure how well a letter of introduction will do. She and I don't always see eye to eye. But, I can reach out to Martin, her husband, who will most certainly set something up."
"That would be wonderful, Prince Corwin," Veronica says immediately before taking a swig of whisky. After swallowing, she continues: "Thank you so much," but she stops herself before offering services of her shop or at the forge in repayment.
"No problem. And if you give me just a second, I'll make arrangements with Martin." That said, Corwin's free hand dips down to his pocket and as he sets the bottle down, he's drawing out his trump deck, flipping through the cards till he finds one so that he can concentrate on it for a moment.
Corwin studies a Trump.
Corwin's obviously in his office in the Palace. With a bottle of whiskey in hand that's almost gone. Surprising. As the connection establishes, there's a curl of his lips to a grin as he offers, "Quite. Been keeping a low profile. But, I'm calling for a favor. Rather easy one at that, Martin."
Veronica remains quiet while the Prince enters his Trump call and simply drinks whisky while she waits.
A quick chuckle comes to slips past Corwin's lips, "Hey. Could be worse. You could be listening to tedious old tales from the likes of the Elders, instead." A wink is given, only for him to then offer up, "Got someone in my office here. Lady Veronica of House Chantris. Also happens to be the great granddaughter of Deirdre. She's looking for information and the like on Tir and bloodlines and I was hoping you could arrange something with Miriam."
Veronica silently laughs at the comment about tedious old tales and then smiles at her mention. She nods another, non-verbal, thanks to the Prince before taking another drink from the bottle.
"No worries. I appreciate the assistance with this. I'll pass the message along to the Lady Veronica," offers Corwin with a smile, only to follow that with, "Stock up the palace down there, by the way. I'm going to be dropping in within the next couple of weeks and you better have an ample supply of booze for me."
"Um. Let me ask? She's sitting right here." And with that, Corwin's gaze shifts to someone outside the cards view, to ask, "Do you have any knowledge of ancient languages?"
Veronica smiles broadly and says, "Yes and no." She then explains by saying, "I have studied ancient languages of Montevalno but I've the Chantris talent for languages so even if I haven't seen or heard it before… give me a bit of time with a sample and it won't be a concern." She then asks two questions: one, verbally, is, "Why does he ask?" having deduced that this question wasn't originally Corwin's… two, asked by a change of facial expression while raising the bottle in her hand, can be understood as 'is this your preferred poison?'
Corwin says, "I presume they are having some issues with ancient languages," offers Corwin to Veronica with a grin, only to then give a little bob of his head at something that's asked of him. Then his gaze returns to that trump call, "She's got skill enough, Martin. Want me to tell her to pack a bathing suit and pop down to see you at some point?"
At the mention of a bathing suit Veronica's expression takes on a distant, lost sense as she begins pondering a design of one for the occasion. She resumes drinking from the bottle as she thinks on the matter.
"Fantastic. I'll arrange for her to make her way down," offers Corwin with a little nod, "Hopefully she can help, then." A quick smile is then followed by, "And I do appreciate your help, Martin. I'll reach out to you in the next day or so, see if I can't lend a hand on the other issue. For now, I shall return my attention to my guest."
Corwin's giving a quick nod, along with, "Thanks. Same to you." And then he's cutting the connection off.
Veronica smiles and sets the bottle back down on the desk after returning its cap to its proper place. "So, sounds like I've an invitation to go to Remba," she says with a smile, "Remind me sometime to discuss ways I can return the favor please, Your Highness."